Pope carries Devils to 5-3 victory over Edinburgh Capitals

Matt Pope led the comeback, scoring twice and assisting on 2 goals in the Devils 5-3 win over the Capitals in Edinburgh on Wednesday Night.

The Caps took an early lead when a sloppy defensive play led to Mike Cazzola burying one on Ben Bowns just 24 seconds into the game. The homeside made it 2-0 thanks to Igor Valeyev at 9:08, shocking the visiting Devils. It could have been worse but two big saves from Bowns late in the first period kept the deficit at 2 after 20 minutes of action.

The second period was all Devils with Matt Pope leading the charge. First, Joey Martin set up Pope four minutes into the period to pull one back for the Devils, then at 33:34 Pope pounced on a loose puck and hammered the puck past Pavel Shegalo to tie the game at 2-2. Less than a minute later, Patrick Asselin finished off a dominating shift for the Devils when Andrew Hotham and Pope combined to set him up for the go-ahead goal at 34:10. The Devils scored their 4th goal at 35:54 with Pope setting up Justin Faryna this time to make it 4-2 after two periods of play.

The third period saw the Capitals pull back a goal, making it 4-3 when Callum Boyd opted to shoot on a two-on-one against Bowns and fired a bullet past the Devils' netminder at 43:01. The Devils regained their two-goal lead when Matthew Myers forced a turnover and fed Drew Paris who blasted the puck past Shegalo to make it 5-3 with just under 15 minutes to play.

The game ended 5-3, but the Caps gave the Devils a scare in the opening period. Matt Pope was the rightful choice for Man of the Match after his 4-point night (2 goals, 2 assists).

Next up for the Devils is a road trip to Manchester on Saturday followed by Sunday's home game against the Dundee Stars (6pm).